HUNTINGTON – An overdose prevention group has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn West Virginia’s 19-year-old moratorium on methadone clinics.
Solutions Oriented Addiction Response of West Virginia filed its complaint March 5 in federal court in Huntington against the state, Gov. Patrick Morrisey, the Department of Health, Secretary of Health Arvin Singh, the West Virginia Health Care Authority, WVHCA Executive Director Gordon C. Lane Jr. and WVHCA Chairman Robert Cheren.
In the 38-page complaint, SOAR-WV claims the 2007 law that instituted the moratorium violates Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Sparks
“Methadone is an evidence-based medication backed by 50 years of research that cuts the risk of fatal overdose by 50 percent and is particularly important given the ubiquity of fentanyl in the drug supply,” ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “West Virginia should not be discriminating against people in recovery by arbitrarily denying them this lifesaving medicine, now more than ever.”
Since 2008, at least 11,983 people have died of an opioid overdose in West Virginia, the equivalent of the combined populations of Pendleton and Calhoun counties, according to SOAR-WV, which also says the increased use of fentanyl in recent years has made the issue of methadone access even more important.
“This is the equivalent of losing every single person who lives in Pendleton and Calhoun County,” the complaint states. “In 2024, West Virginia had an opioid overdose death rate double the national average, with 38.6 deaths per 100,000 West Virginians compared to the national average of 16.0 per 100,000.”
More than 700,000 have died of opioid overdose in the United States since 2000. That is more than the number of American soldiers killed in battle in all U.S. wars since World War I, according to the complaint.
“West Virginia is the epicenter of America’s opioid epidemic,” the complaint states. “In recent years, the opioid crisis has been supercharged by the presence of powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
“Fortunately, there is effective medication available for people addicted to opioids. Fifty years of scientific research and medical practice support that, for people with opioid use disorder, methadone cuts the risk of death from all causes — including overdose — in half, reduces illicit drug use, reduces infectious disease transmission and improves quality of life.
“Methadone, as compared to other treatment medications, is particularly effective for those who are addicted to fentanyl.”
But the state law has resulted in only nine clinics operating in the state. SOAR-WV Co-Director Sarah Stone says this leaves “broad swaths of the population more than an hour’s drive from the nearest methadone clinic.”
And, as Stone notes, methadone treatment programs often require daily in-person check-ins. The lack of clinics makes it “practically impossible for thousands of West Virginians to get the treatment they need while juggling the demands of life.”
Stone said methadone is the only medication for opioid use disorder that fully activates the opioid receptors in the brain.
“For that reason, it allows people who are using powerful opioids like fentanyl to begin recovery treatment without first going through painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms that increase the risk of relapse and death,” she said.
But, according to the complaint, West Virginia is the only state in the nation with a moratorium on new methadone clinics.
“A cruel irony given that West Virginia has led the nation in the rate of opioid overdose deaths for 14 of the last 15 years,” the complaint states. “It has additionally layered on strict zoning restrictions targeted exclusively at providers of medications for opioid use disorder, including methadone.”
The lawsuit challenges what SOAR-WV calls the state’s “discriminatory and deadly statewide moratorium and zoning restrictions on opioid treatment programs, which are the only facilities federally authorized to dispense methadone — a proven, life-saving medication — to treat OUD. OUD is a chronic disease of the brain that, if left untreated, often results in death.”
The complaint says the results of the moratorium are deadly.
“For many individuals in West Virginia, methadone is the only effective medication available to treat their opioid addiction, especially for those with the most severe OUD and those who frequently use fentanyl,” it states. “This is because — among other reasons — methadone is the only FDA-approved MOUD that allows those with more severe OUDs to begin taking effective medication without having to go through painful withdrawal symptoms first.
“Fentanyl withdrawal, compared to heroin withdrawal, typically involves more serious withdrawal symptoms, making avoiding withdrawal altogether even more important. Without access to methadone, individuals with the most severe addiction are less likely to enter treatment and thus are at a dramatically higher risk of fatal overdose.”
People seeking drug rehabilitation health services are considered people with disabilities under federal law.
“One purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to ensure people are able to receive the care they need, without the social stigma that often accompanies addiction,” ACLU staff attorney Joseph Longley said. “The government should not be getting in the way of lifesaving care.”
The complaint also says there is a “pervasive stigma” associated with people seeking methadone treatment that limits their access to the medication.
“This stigma is grounded in longstanding, widespread and deeply rooted misconceptions that OUD is a choice and a moral failing, rather than a disease of the brain,” the complaint states. “West Virginia’s moratorium and zoning restrictions are rooted in this stigma.
“For example, during the West Virginia House of Delegates debate of a bill that would have lifted the moratorium, Delegate Ty Nestor from Randolph (County) said of methadone: ‘This stuff is bad. You can’t fight West Virginia’s addiction to opioids with something just like heroin and just calling it something different.’”
SOAR-WV seeks to enjoin the state from enforcing the methadone clinic moratorium, and it also challenges the state’s zoning restrictions that ban new methadone clinics from operating within a half-mile of any daycare center or school. The complaint says this type of restriction does not apply to other types of health care facilities. It also seeks court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
“Obviously our clients hate that this moratorium has been in place for so long,” ACLU-WV Communications Director Billy Wolfe told The Record. “While we all wish we could go back to 2007 and make sure it never passed in the first place, SOAR-WV is doing what they can to stop the harm now.
“With the dramatic rise of fentanyl use in recent years, it’s become increasingly urgent that the moratorium be lifted. Providers need every tool at their disposal to combat this crisis.”
SOAR-WV is a non-profit that operates throughout the state and has volunteers and partners in all 55 counties who distribute naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication. It also hosts monthly mutual aid fairs in Charleston to connect individuals with OUD to treatment, housing and other social services.
The non-profit is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, the American Civil Liberties Union and Chicago-based Kaplan & Grady.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:26-cv-00175
